Greater New Orleans

No deal: writers and producers go ballistic

Representatives for writers drew a firm line in the sand Friday night when negotiations drew to an abrupt halt as producers' representatives walked out while writers were drafting a counterproposal that hinged mainly on compensation for new media. Now five weeks into the strike, an article in Daily Variety states that there is no indication of when negotiations will resume. The strike has caused a flurry of firings and many popular televisions shows are in reruns after two weeks of negotiations that led to the current impasse. The AMPTA accused the WGA of stalling calling writers "Quixotic" and "in pursuit of radical demands." The WGA pointed the finger at AMPTP with an accusation that producers are looking to shaft writers out of Internet revenues much as they did with DVD royalties in the past. According to the article, the AMPTP walked out while the WGA was prepping a counter-offer. A companion article in Daily Varity said that the "negotiations spin has gone nuclear" when WGA West president Patric Verrone made an accusation that the AMPTP - and not writers - have stalled this round of negotiations.